The Institute's and the Academy's
by charcoal-lashes
Summary: Emma had done it again-for the last time. After her father has decided to crack down on Emma's rogue, underage demon-chasing, her and Julian's lives take a turn for the worst when they're sent to the Academy in Alicante for the last few months of their training. Showing off to the Academy's isn't the only thing on Emma's mind however, when another Herondale boy enters the picture.
1. You've Done It Now

"THIS IS THE LAST STRAW EMMA!" Her father bellowed, his wild eyes honing in on her dark, brown ones.

"You see, I'm not too sure exactly as to what you're referring to-" Emma began. But there was no getting out of this one.

"I AM REFERRING TO THE EXPLICIT DISOBEYING OF THE CLAVE'S ORDER TO NEVER ASSIST THE FEY PEOPLE! WHICH YOU HAVE DONE NOW, SEVERAL TIMES!" John yelled, his voice growing louder and louder with each word to emphasize his anger.

"Oh, yes." Emma squeaked. "That."

"You're done, Emma." he deadpanned. "You're freedom here in the Institute is clearly something that you can't handle. It's over. You're coming back to Idris with me to attend the Shadowhunter Academy where I can keep you under several watchful eyes."

"No!" Emma begged. "No Dad, please no! The Academy is practically Shadowhunter suicide! Everyone knows that they have absolutely zero experience and it's practically a prison there!"

The Shadowhunter Academy had once been one of the finest places to send a young Shadowhunter to train for their adult lives as actual Shadowhunters. It had closed down, however, long ago and reopened after the Dark War—which had been five years ago. Ever since it had reopened, it's facilities had been redone to the extreme, but, being out in Idris, its students never got the chance to fight actual demons out in the real world, something Emma and Julian had been doing for years living out in Los Angeles. The real-world experience was of vital importance—Emma's father had even said so once.

"You can't do this to me! Please, Dad, I'll do anything." she said, her hands clasping in front of her, her eyes wide with real fear (something not often found in the eyes of Emma Carstairs.)

"It's done, Emma." John Carstairs said with finality. "You'll be leaving tomorrow, giving you and Julian both the night to pack up your things."

Emma's heart sank. She knew that if anything could make this transition bearable, it would be for Jules to accompany her, but not like this. Not when Julian hadn't done anything wrong. This was all her fault.

"Dad don't put Jules through this," she pleaded. "He didn't do anything wrong, Dad, it was all me."

"Oh I am sure it was, Emma." Her father said unkindly as he rolled the cuffs of his sleeves to their proper creases. "But Julian will be there to keep an eye on you. You will not go without him."

Knowing Julian and the rest of the Blackthorns were listening intently behind the doors of the kitchen, Emma asked the question she knew they would want to know.

"But who's gonna take care of the Blackthorns, Dad? You can't leave them here alone, they need Jules!" Emma's voice broke, "They're just kids, Dad."

"Diana will be coming to live here full time now to watch over them. The arrangements have already been made." He said.

Emma and her father John stared at each other intently in the large foyer of the Los Angeles Institute. Her father had been one of her best friends—second to Julian of course. He almost always was on Emma's side. This time however was different.

Emma filled the room's silence. "Diana loves her house though. She would hate living here, how can you ask her to do that?" she accused.

"I wouldn't have had to if it weren't for your foolish actions, Emma. Diana's moving to the Institute is no one's fault but your own."

As if on cue, the front doors of the Institute opened to reveal Diana carrying two, rather large suitcases. Sensing that she had interrupted, she bowed her head in John's direction, as if to apologize for her intrusion.

"Emma." she said softly, giving her a small smile as she passed by Emma, walking briskly up the large stairs.

Sighing deeply, John took a step toward his daughter. "This is for the best, Em. You have plenty of experience out here. You'll be five steps ahead of all of the other students—you and Julian both will. And it's only a few months until you graduate and you're on your own anyway. It'll be good for you to make some connections."

Emma did not cry, but oh how she wanted to.

"This isn't fair."

"Let's not talk about fair right now, Em. You need some discipline, and it isn't just me who thinks so." he said. Her dad was referring to the Clave's disgruntled attitude regarding her private missions to get Mark Blackthorn back—things she knew she shouldn't have been getting into.

No longer able to keep eye contact with her father, Emma lowered her eyes to her feet. "Okay." she said, almost a whisper.

"Pack tonight," he said. "We'll all three portal to Alicante in the morning." Kissing her softly on the forehead, John made his exit, ascending the stairs in order to retire to one of the spare rooms for the night.

Unable to bear the shame of being responsible for taking Julian from the Blackthorns, Emma ran out the front doors, down the drive and to the beach before they could emerge from the kitchen.

She ran for miles that night, only stopping when it became too dark for her to continue. Emma then turned around and began to run back to the Institute to pack her things. Maybe Jules might still be up so she could apologize. Everything was always her fault.


	2. Settling

When Emma had finally gotten back to the Institute the night before, Julian was asleep in his room, his things in boxes. Emma retreated to her own room to pack things up but grew too tired, deciding she didn't care if they were late in the morning. She had showered, scrubbing her skin ruthlessly with a rough bristled brush and frothy, white soap for at least thirty minutes. She washed and conditioned her hair twice, dried it, and brushed it slowly. Knowing she would get absolutely no sleep that night without Julian next to her, Emma had crawled into his bed in her oversized KISS t-shirt and panties, her newly shaved legs gliding easily against Julian's clean sheets. Before she had shut her pretty, brown eyes, she glanced at his clock, reading its green numbers that claimed it was 2:37 in the morning.

Emma was awakened by the sound of Julian's groggy cough spell, causing her to bolt upright, ready for action. This startled Julian.

"Woah, Em, calm down." he mumbled, his eyes barely open.

Sighing in relief, Emma fell back onto the pillows. Remembering why she had come into Jules' room last night in the first place and what the two of them would be doing today.

"By the Angel, dammit!" She groaned, covering her eyes with her arm in frustration and humiliation. "Fuck I'm so sorry Jules." she said. "This is all my fault and you're being punished with me which is so unfair to you and now because of me you have to go to this terrible place full of horribly trained Shadowhunters and you have to leave your family and I'm just so so sorry Ju—"

"Are you done?" Julian chuckled, attempting to move her arm from her face.

"Actually Jules, I wasn't." Emma said, making sure her face stayed covered by her elbow, despite Jules' tugs at it. "You kinda just straight up interrupted my rant which is why you should know that the answer is that I was not done because you cut me off back there and—"

"'Wither thou goest, I will go.'" Julian quoted. It was one of the lines they had recited to each other during their parabatai ceremony. Julian gave Emma a soft smile of reassurance, not that her covered eyes could see it, but he was sure she could feel it.

"This is all my fault," she pouted. "Now, because of me, we're going to be terrible Shadowhunters because the Academy trains like shit. We'll never be able to leave either!"

"Maybe we could convince Malcolm to portal us back on the weekends, keep a handle on some of our street skills." Julian suggested with a shrug.

Uncovering her face, her chocolate brown orbs alight, Emma smiled. "You think he would do that?"

"I don't see why not." Julian offered with a smile.

Emma thought of how amazing it could be to demon hunt with Jules back in Los Angeles. She then thought about how even more amazing it would be to go demon hunting in New York City or Las Vegas; everyone knew that Vegas was roaming with new and exciting demons attempting to morph into the mundane life in the wild city. Maybe she could convince Malcolm…

~

Not an hour or so later, John Carstairs was hollering at Julian and Emma, telling them Malcolm was here to open the portal. Emma had just finished packing the last of her belongings with Julian's much needed assistance.

"Emma! Julian! Let's go, there's no time to waste." He called from the bottom staircase below.

Hugging all of the Blackthorn children goodbye was going to be difficult, Emma knew. Her and her shenanigans had taken their older brother from them—as if they hadn't lost enough older siblings already.

Ty was shifting his feet uncomfortably, his hands digging around in his pockets for something to calm him down. Livvy's look was somber, as well as a silently weeping Tavvy, and Dru held tight to the stairwell railing for support.

"It's just for a few months, Ty. There's nothing to worry about, I'll be back sooner than you realize." Julian said to him soothingly, kneeling down so they were at eye-level with one another.

"Do you think you could portal back this weekend?" He questioned nervously. "Just for a few hours? Do you think that would be okay?"

Turning to Malcolm, who nodded with reassurance at young Ty, Julian said, "I don't see why not."

With an elegant wave of his hand, Malcolm revealed a blue, shimmering portal before them. Emma's father gestured for Emma and Julian to go first, stepping aside to pick up his one bag. Looking into the swirling orb, Emma could see the city of Alicante dancing in front of her very eyes like lights on water. Sighing deeply with one last look at the Blackthorns, she stepped through.

Before her was the extraordinary Academy entrance leading up to six or seven floor levels. The steel and dark-stained structure overwhelmed Emma as she gazed up to the very top, her head leaning back for the best view. Intricate columns held up the third floor balconies facing the front of the building, likely giving an excellent view of Lake Lyn which was about half a mile behind where Emma had just appeared through from seemingly thin air.

Julian and her father appeared now beside her; Julian to her left, John Carstairs to her right.

"Here we are." her father sighed with relief. "Come now, let's get you both to your rooms."

Initiating the first steps, John swung his bag in his hand, reaching out to open the front doors of Shadowhunter Academy for their entrance. Casting a quick glance at Jules first, Emma followed in her father's footsteps through the sleek, black, glass doors.

Light filled the room. Tall, elaborate chandeliers hung on the high ceiling, casting dancing light all around what appeared to be a front lobby to Shadowhunter Academy. Young Shadowhunters milled about the room, some sitting in chairs with adults who seemed to be their parents, others at one of the many front desks arguing about their class schedules. They all were dressed in black. And Emma knew not a single one of them stood a chance against her and Jules in combat.

Stepping up to one of the open desks, her father announced their presence by thumping two heavy folders on the cherry oak kiosk in front of him. The woman behind it did not flinch however, simply turned her attention away from her computer and slid an easy smile on her face.

"Hi how can I help you today?" The woman asked. Her brown hair was pulled tightly back into a twist that seemed to pull at the skin on her face. Emma noticed that she didn't have any rune markings on her body. _She must be a mundane with the Sight._ Emma thought.

"My name is John Carstairs." Emma's father bellowed proudly. "This is my daughter Emma and her parabati Julian. They are both to complete their final few months of training here at the Academy."

Realizing who they were immediately, the woman sat up further, seeming to give more attention to them. "Oh why yes of course, Mr. Carstairs." She said, her eyes flitting back to her computer, typing quickly on the black keys in front of her. "Miss Emma Carstairs," she mumbled as a printer next to her pushed out a new document. "and Mr. Julian Blackthorn." Another paper spit out of the small machine and she handed both of the papers to Emma's father. "Their dorm numbers, class schedules, and all other information are on these. And may I just say," the woman said, looking appraisingly at Emma, "welcome to Shadowhunter Academy."

"Thanks." Emma muttered, taking her paper from her father; Julian took his as well.

Emma's father hadn't been allowed beyond the front lobby, so with a hug goodbye, he had left Emma and Julian to fend for themselves. It was Sunday, and their classes started tomorrow.

Emma was completely in awe of the beauty inside the large building. She was surprised to see so many beautiful structures of art; paintings adoring the wall, sculptures around corners, stain glass in the windows, mural tiles on the ceiling. She was even more shocked to find that her room was right across the hall from Jules'. The separation of boys and girls was clearly not an issue here. Her room was bigger than she had thought it would be. She had a queen sized bed, a walk-in closet, and two windows. Her room was connected to her dorm-mate's room by a small living space that had a couch, a flat-screen television, and a bookshelf. Emma only had one school book since she was in her final three months of training. She had three blocks in her printed out schedule, compared to the six that most students had. She had a free period for hours 1 and 2. Study of Demonic Language for hour 3, Lunch, Perfecting Your Combat Technique Level 9 for hour 4, Experienced Dueling for hour 5, and her third empty square was on hour 6.

Julian's dorm had been identical to hers except his roommate was there. His name was Archie. Archie had been sitting on the couch playing Halo 3 in his boxers when Emma and Jules had walked in. Emma left and let Julian unpack himself after seeing half-naked Archie.

Now, Emma and Julian were sitting on her bed, Julian complaining about how her roommate wasn't in her underwear on the couch. Emma rolled her eyes. They had the exact same schedule, besides Julian's extra class that he had requested to sign up for at the last minute: Faerie Life and Culture. It was his first hour, which started at 8 am.

"That sucks." Emma had said, pointing to his first block when she saw his schedule. Julian had claimed he was excited for the class however, so Emma said nothing more.

After an hour of sitting in her room arm-wrestling Jules, Emma became restless. It was noon on a Sunday and she needed to do something. She decided to ask one of the attendants where the open training rooms were so she could burn off the dread of putting her and Jules in this prison.

Emma and Julian both changed into their normal training gear and made their way to the front lobby. Normally, back at home, Emma would train in shorts and a sports bra. Running around the front lobby of Shadowhunter Academy without a shirt made her uneasy however, and she decided to wait to take off her grey T-shirt until after they had found the training room.

A different attendant helped Julian and Emma find the training room. They made their way to the south building and climbed two flights of stairs to the 'Experienced Training Facility' which was for final term Shadowhunters and faculty.

The entire floor was a training facility. When Emma opened the large metal door at the landing she stood in the doorway, gaping at all its beauty. On the far left side of the wall, hundreds of cardio equipment were lined out: treadmills, ellipticals, stair masters, bikes, and striders. The right side of the room had throwing knife targets and shooting range lines, weapons of all sorts stacked high in shelves and placed neatly on the cinderblock wall. The wall parallel to the entry door that Emma was still standing in had weight training equipment; more than Emma had ever seen at one time. Bench presses, squat bars, yoga balls, leg presses, galore. She counted 10 brand new Body Solid's and 5 ropes hanging from the ceiling with a bell to ring on the ceiling above each one. But what really grabbed Emma's attention was the 4 sparring rings in the middle of the room: they were kinda hard to miss. Only one was currently occupied by two boys who were clearly beating the living shit out of each other, and they didn't seem to notice Emma and Julian walk in.

"Em," Julian began, nudging her out of her revere, "are we gonna go in or just stand here?"

Still in awe, Emma began to slowly walk forward, knowing exactly what she wanted to go to first; but Julian hated sparring with Emma. Not only was she too harsh for friendly training combat, but Julian felt that fighting with your parabati was somehow wrong. Every other training exercise, however, they always did with each other. So Emma led the way to the treadmills, needing to run off her anger. Emma hated running on machines and much preferred to run outside or on the beach like she would at the Institute. Running around Alicante didn't seem very smart though considering she didn't know the area very well, and Emma could run for miles.

Jumping up onto a machine with Julian on the one to her left, she pressed start, holding her finger on the button until the speed couldn't go any faster.

 **Please follow and review. Next chapter will be up soon!**


	3. Days

Kit hated losing in a sparring match. Which was why he never did. He quickly pinned Tony Whitehallow to the floor of the combat quarters, extending his hand to help him back up after it had been made clear that Kit had won.

"Looks like you win," Tony grumbled. "Again."

Kind of sheepishly, Kit scratched the back of his golden blonde curls, "Yeah."

"Where's Rex today?" Tony asked him, simply making conversation as he picked up a towel and dried his sweat-drenched skin.

Rex was Kit's parabati and best friend. They were almost always together, but today was an exception. Rex was spending his Sunday afternoon in the bed of his off and on girlfriend Elena Everwood. Rex was a distant relative to the Fairchild family, though he didn't share the last name—or the red hair.

"Not sure," he dismissed, not in the mood to chat.

Tony glanced up at something behind him, causing Kit to turn his head as well. Two Shadowhunters he had never seen before (a slender blonde girl and a tall dark-haired boy) were all out sprinting on the treadmills.

"Those must be the Institutes." Tony mused, his eyes on the blonde girl whose smile was wide as she looked back and forth between the speed on the machine and the boy.

"The who?" Kit asked, his head turning.

"That's Emma Carstairs and Julian Blackthorn." Tony explained, picking up his gym bag as he got ready to leave. "They only have another three months of training left but word is they got into some trouble messing with some Clave issues—rogue demon-hunting or fey mingling. I'm not sure—something like that. They're really good. The girl is supposed to be a hell-raiser of some kind according to my dad."

"Where'd they come from?" Kit questioned again, his eyes turning back to watch them intently.

"Los Angeles Institute."

"Huh."

"Yeah," Tony said, hopping down from the cage, "anyway I'll see ya in class, Kit."

"Yeah, cool." Kit muttered, not really paying attention.

There were only four Shadowhunters in the training room besides the two Institutes and Kit himself. Kit noticed they were all stealing glances at the Institutes, watching them train. Kit too was guilty of it, and he had to admit, they were good. He watched as they hopped off the treadmills after finishing 5 miles of sprinting, seemingly unfazed from their strenuous workout. The girl was gorgeous. Her skin was tanned and her blonde hair sunny. She looked warm and bright, a smile on her face every time she spoke to the boy next to her. She walked with confidence and ease. She never took off the golden seraph blade on her back no matter what they did. Kit watched as they threw knifes perfectly into the center targets right-handed, left-handed, and with a twist. Neither of them seemed to struggle with anything. The both of them raced up the ropes above without even stopping to catch their breath. Kit had spent so many long nights and weekends in here just to be able to do some of the things they were doing with ease. Jealous, he slammed the weighted bar he was pressing back onto the hold and made his way for the door.

"Have you heard about the new students? The Institutes?"

"Yeah," Kit mumbled to his best friend beside him "heard they aren't all that."

"Not what I heard." Rex mused. They were both lounging on the couch in their dorm, Kit flipping through channels on the flat screen. It was just after midnight.

"Well what did you hear then?" Kit asked with disinterest. Rex didn't notice his tone.

"I heard they're raw. Like actually some of the best fighters our age back in the states. Plus I heard the chick was pretty hot."

"Yeah she's alright I guess." Kit lied. He knew she was beautiful.

Sitting up now, Rex questioned, "You met them? Why didn't you say something?"

"I didn't meet them," Kit replied, throwing the remote on to the cushion next to him in defeat, "just saw them at my workout today." Kit stood up now, running his hands through his hair and picking up his bottled water to throw away.

"And?" Rex pressed.

"And what?"

"Well are they good? What's their deal?" he questioned.

"I don't know, Rex. They're alright I guess."

"Are you okay, dude?"

"I'm fine." Kit responded, turning away to go to his room. "Tired."

"Whatever," Rex said, reaching for Kit's discarded remote, "Night."

"Yeah, night." Kit said, shutting his door behind him.

Kit woke up the next morning in a better mood. His 8am class however put a small damper on his spirits when he saw one of the Institutes—the guy—in the seat that was usually empty next to Kit's assigned seat.

Sighing, Kit walked in the class, everyone stealing glances at the new guy, whispering rumors and wondering about him too loud.

"Hey," Kit said awkwardly, sitting next to him and placing his book down on the table they now shared.

"Hey," the boy replied in a casual and friendly tone.

"So you're the Institute guy?" Kit asked uncomfortably.

Laughing, he said "I guess that's my new nickname yeah. But outside of here people call me Julian."

With a chuckle, Kit raised his hand to shake Julian's now outstretched one, "I'm Kit. Kit Rook."

Shaking Kit's hand firmly, Julian raised his eyebrows slightly. "Are you Johnny Rook's son?"

"Uh, yeah. You know him?" Kit asked, curiosity coming out in his tone a little too strongly.

"My parabatai does." He muttered, shaking his head. "She's always looking for trouble like the kind Johnny Rook seems to find." Realizing what he said, Julian quickly backpedalled, "Oh shit, I didn't mean it like that I'm s—"

"Haha, it's all good, dude." Kit said with a laugh. "I get what you mean." Kit's father wasn't exactly known as the dad next door. He had dabbled in demon dealings and other Downworlder issues—under the Clave's nose—for years.

Still feeling bad for his mistake, Julian gave him a small smile and turned back to the front where Prof. Grenwich was starting the lesson. Kit and Julian made small talk throughout the period, learning to like each other.

When class ended, Kit turned to Julian who was standing up to leave. "What you got next hour new kid?" Kit joked.

"Free period. Emma and I finished most of our courses back in Los Angeles. Our classes are pretty basic for the next few months."

"Damn that's lucky." Kit muttered, following Julian out of the hall and down the stairs toward the dorms.

"What about you?"

"Ah, I got Shadowhunter Leadership Level 4 back in the East wing." Coming to his turn down the hall he turned around to face Julian and began walking backwards, "See ya around, Julian."

"Yeah see ya." He said back with a small nod.

Kit walked down the hall, saying hi to people walking by until he reached the door at the end. Pushing it open, he stepped outside and walked across the quad toward the East wing. He spotted Cristina Rosales, looking very sleep-deprived and angry, storming across the quad as well, heading to the same class as him.

"If looks could kill." He chuckled.

"Do not test me today, Rook." She snarled, taking a step into the door he held open for her.

"Not get enough beauty sleep, Cristina?"

"My new roommate is that new Institute girl and she kept me up ALL night!" She spilled, taking each stair ever angrier and more stomp-like than the one before it.

"Oh god please tell me it was kinky." Kit joking prayed, looking up to the sky and folding his pleading hands.

Smacking his arm, Cristina scolded him. "That girl literally can't sleep unless its actually time for class. I even went into her room this morning to make sure she was awake and she threw her pillow at me." Cristina huffed, "I don't even know the girl and she's already throwing things at me."

"Did you talk to her much?" he asked.

They had reached the third floor, but Cristina's hand stopped on the door handle. Turning to Kit with a serious face, she warned, "Do not sleep with her."

"What?!" Kit asked bewildered.

"Don't do that, Kit. You can't fool me. I know what the boys are saying. Do not sleep with her. I will not deal with a heartbroken roommate after you hit and quit, not for three more months."

"You're so dramatic, Cristina."

"I'm being serious, Kit." Cristina said, opening the door to the busy hallway, "It's one thing dealing with a loud roommate who never sleeps," reaching their class she said, "it's another dealing with a loud roommate who never sleeps who also won't stop crying over a boy." Jerking open the door to Shadowhunter Leadership Level 4, Cristina gave him one last look of warning and walked in.


End file.
